Houston Astros: Three options to replace Jose Altuve in the field

Bring in Marwin Gonzalez to second and place Tony Kemp in left

The next option the Houston Astros could choose to use is flexing Marwin Gonzalez‘s utility muscle. Marwin has spent most of this year in left field and has moved around less and this trend has continued in the playoffs. He’s only played left field but now could be the time to utilize his versatility.

Placing MarGo at second base gives the Astros the best defensive option at second base if Altuve has to DH. MarGo has good range and a solid arm that is very accurate. It has played well in left field and would, without a doubt, continue to play well at second base. However, he is working on recovering from a high-speed collision with the Green Monster but he should be good to go by this afternoon.

Moving MarGo opens up a hole in left field for this game. Placing Tony Kemp in left field could give the Astros the best combination of offense and defense in the field when trying to replace Altuve. Kemp has flashed some incredible glove in the outfield this season and his average arm plays just fine in left.

In playing Kemp, the Astros also can play matchups in the lineup against Nathan Eovaldi. The Astros play a lot of right-handed hitters and playing Kemp gives them a lefty in the lineup that has hit very well against righties this year, all six of his homers have come off of righties. His average and on-base percentage are nearly identical but his slugging percentage and RBIs are much higher.

This combination of players gives the Astros the most balance in the lineup for game three. It may not be the best offensive lineup or the best defensive lineup but it is the best combination of the two.